Free motion around black holes with discs or rings: between integrability and chaos -- IV

TL;DR

This study compares relativistic and pseudo-Newtonian models of particle motion around black holes with discs or rings, analyzing phase-space structures and chaos to evaluate the accuracy of simplified approaches.

Contribution

It demonstrates that pseudo-Newtonian potentials can replicate key phase-space features of relativistic systems, with differences mainly in the chaotic regions and stability thresholds.

Findings

Pseudo-Newtonian models show similar phase-space evolution to relativistic systems.

Different potentials vary in how they delimit accessible phase space.

Pseudo-Newtonian systems are slightly more prone to instability than relativistic ones.

Abstract

The dynamical system studied in previous papers of this series, namely a bound time-like geodesic motion in the exact static and axially symmetric space-time of an (originally) Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by a thin disc or ring, is considered to test whether the often employed "pseudo-Newtonian" approach (resorting to Newtonian dynamics in gravitational potentials modified to mimic the black-hole field) can reproduce phase-space properties observed in the relativistic treatment. By plotting Poincar\'e surfaces of section and using two recurrence methods for similar situations as in the relativistic case, we find similar tendencies in the evolution of the phase portrait with parameters (mainly with mass of the disc/ring and with energy of the orbiters), namely those characteristic to weakly non-integrable systems. More specifically, this is true for the Paczy\'nski--Wiita and a newly suggested logarithmic potential, whereas the Nowak--Wagoner potential leads to a different picture. The potentials and the exact relativistic system clearly differ in delimitation of the phase-space domain accessible to a given set of particles, though this mainly affects the chaotic sea whereas not so much the occurrence and succession of discrete dynamical features (resonances). In the pseudo-Newtonian systems, the particular dynamical features generally occur for slightly smaller values of the perturbation parameters than in the relativistic system, so one may say that the pseudo-Newtonian systems are slightly more prone to instability. We also add remarks on numerics (a different code is used than in previous papers), on the resemblance of dependence of the dynamics on perturbing mass and on orbital energy, on the difference between the Newtonian and relativistic Bach--Weyl rings, and on the relation between Poincar\'e sections and orbital shapes within the meridional plane.